Groupon marketing plan assignment

Large customer and merchant base (35 million registered customers) Asset leverage Innovative Online growth Network power (no ads cost for partnering merchants) No refunds Customer range limitation (main consumers are young people and females, deals only available in most major cities) Deal-of-the-Day expires within a day Customer retention (Usually first timer customers, rarely return) Opportunities for Groupon Threats for Groupon Increase Market share (currently have 80% +/- of market share) Market penetration into less developed markets Economies of scale (Worldwide) Acquisition offer from large companies ex. previous $5. billion offer from Google) Extension partners Growth of e-commerce (Online shopping & advertising) Newspaper advertising Market goes as far as new products and services Partnership with social networks More companies will participate resulting in becoming business partners Strong competition and new players such as Google Many small, imitator sites Industry leading position – needs to stay on top Technology barrier Economic slowdown Side-effects of aggressive expansion including managerial problems It is hard to imagine talking about operating or using businesses without nline services these days, as online shopping has caught attention of, and is used by so many customers.

Because of the increased use of online shopping, Groupon has been able to enter and dominate an area that has the potential for great expansion. Groupon online discount coupon service provides opportunities for users to receive significant discounts on goods and services and has already established itself in many big cities. This service not only obviously benefits the consumer and merchant but it also increases sales in the local economy as the services are geographically based. Groupon is also appealing to merchants as it is easy advertising” even if the Groupon is not purchased the business is viewed by many potential customers as it is received by so many.

Living Social’s success has been due to its imitation f Groupon (daily deals, email subscription, and a powerful mobile application). Google Offers This is a particularly interesting com petitor since Google unsuccessfully tried to purchase Groupon in 2010. Google Offers does not offer anything particularly different from Living Social or from Groupon. The advantage Google Offers enjoys is a tie-in with its other successful products and services, such as Android, the mobile operating system on more than 50% of smartphones, and its popular Google Maps service. Though Google Offers has had a slow start, compared to both Groupon and Living Social, Google Offers has the market penetration and the financials to make it a very real threat to Groupon. Ever Save Eversave. om in Woburn, MA is a private company categorized under Electronic Media Advertising Representatives. Our research shows it was established in 1999 and incorporated in Massachusetts. Products or services offered are: advertising and related services, mail advertising services, advertising agencies, ads services and advertising media services. BuyWithMe BuyWithMe is the premier group coupon buying website where leading local merchants offer exclusive limited time offers to members of the BuyWithMe community. Through the power of its numbers, BuyWithMe negotiates handpicked group discounts for its customers to access at spas, restaurants, health clubs, bars and other local activities in their city.

BuyWithMe currently publishes daily deals in 12 major DMAs, including Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, phoenix, New York, and San Diego. BuyWithMe is headquartered in New York City, and maintains an office in Boston where it was founded. BuyWithMe was founded by serial entrepreneur and value investor Andrew Moss. Product (Service) Offering Groupon is an online subscription service that offers promotions and iscounts for its subscribers from various businesses in specific geographic areas. Groupon offers discounts on products and services ranging from restaurants, organized trips, coffee shops, to dry cleaners. Some of Groupon’s offers include physical goods (Groupon Goods). Those goods range from technological products to movie tickets.

Marketing Objectives More and more people are adopting mobile internet devices (54. 9% of cell phone owners own smartphones as of June 2012). And that rate is growing. In the second quarter of 201 2, % of people who purchased cell phones bought martphones. The majority of those phones sold are Android. Close second is the iPhone. This means that more and more people are using smartphones with both email capabilities and the ability to download applications (app), i. e. , the Groupon app. There are many competitors to Groupon, according Business Insider. This means that in order for Groupon to stay relevant and fresh in consumers minds, it must differentiate from copycat services like Living Social and Lifebooker.

This can be accomplished by appealing to not just a younger, a more tech-sawy market (which is already using Groupon, nd its competitors, in overwhelming numbers), but to an older, less tech- sawy market, but holding much bigger purchasing power. The advantages of marketing to a demographic with more purchasing power are self evident: more people using Groupon with more money means increased revenue. The secondary advantage is that since this market is largely untapped, and since this demographic is more brand loyal, we can simultaneously create a stronger brand among this demographic, but beat the competition to the punch. Financial Objectives 1 . Keep the growth rate high on three digits as percentage. 2. Increase total revenue at least 100% by taking senior market share 3. Minimize net loss by over 10% through financial management.